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Culvert repair construction shuts down a section of route 46 and the business stuck in the middle
AUSTINTOWN
A business owner says he’s preparing for next week’s three-day culvert-repair construction that will shut down not only a section of state Route 46, from New Road to Kirk Road, but shut off traffic to his business as well.
Randy DiNunzio, owner of Lou’s Beer and Wine Cellar on Route 46 near Kirk Road, said his is the only business completely blocked by the repair.
He said 20,000 to 30,000 cars pass by his business in a given week.
“It’s a main artery. It’s a busy road. I’m just glad it’s only three to five days,” DiNunzio said.
DiNunzio said he has seen places go out of business when construction projects like this one last longer than the given times.
He said he may take to social media to help get the word out about the construction to allow people to stock up on what they won’t be able to get during the week.
The repair work, which begins Monday, is part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s $900,000 project to replace culverts around Mahoning County.
The detour will be state Route 11 to U.S. Route 224.
Other surrounding businesses’ employees, including BP gas station attendants by Kirk Road and staff at the Associated School Employees Credit Union on New Road, said the road work won’t really affect them because customers still have alternate routes to reach them.
“You just have to roll with it. It has been happening all over the state,” DiNunzio said about construction projects. “There’s nothing you can really do. It is what it is, and you can cry all you want.”
Other construction is underway in the township. According to ODOT’s website, the Interstate 80 westbound ramp to Route 11 is closed. Traffic is being maintained in two lanes on I-80 eastbound between Route 46 and the Trumbull County line through early June for a bridge replacement and ramp reconstruction.
This project will widen I-80 between Route 11 and state Route 193, and is scheduled to be completed in 2018.